 | The Works of Thomas Love Peacock |  |
FAREWELL TO MEIRION
Meirion, farewell! thy sylvan shades,Thy mossy rocks and bright cascades,
Thy tangled glens and dingles wild,
Might well detain the Muses' child.
But can the son of science find,
In thy fair realm, one kindred mind,
One soul sublime, by feeling taught,
To wake the genuine pulse of thought,
One heart by nature formed to prove
True friendship and unvarying love?
No—Bacchus reels through all thy fields,
Her brand fanatic frenzy wields,
212
And folly shakes her jingling bells.
Meirion, farewell—and ne'er again
My steps shall press thy mountain reign,
Nor long on thee my memory rest,
Fair as thou art—unloved, unblessed.
And ne'er may parting stranger's hand
Wave a fond blessing on thy land,
Long as disgusted virtue flies
From folly, drunkenness, and lies;
Long as insulted science shuns
The steps of thy degraded sons;
Long as the northern tempest roars
Round their inhospitable doors.
| The Works of Thomas Love Peacock | |